Contessa Donatella

I have a love/hate relationship with Sally Wainwright, who has had a ton of glory heaped on her in the past 10 yrs. I hate her, still, for killing off Kate in Last Tango in Halifax, and I think she takes way too long in between seasons! Whlle she takes too long, we wait too long. Everything else in the world, yes, I love her for all of that! I've been re-watching S01 but I think I'm going to start S02 without finishing up on the first one. I just wanted to see enough to be reminded & whet my appetite. I was drooling a little bit in anticipation yesterday, so I think I'm ready!

I bit a hole in my tongue! I kid you not. I plan to move on & try grinding my teeth. Most recently I've run into this misplaced hero worship and over-aggrandizement - if you'll pardon me that horrible made-up word - of certain individuals who now think that Tony Geary, the person, and Luke Spencer, the character, have somehow saved all of daytime. Now I understand why this is happening: the GH writers killed off Luke. Fans thought it would be revealed that he was still alive & being kept prisoner on some island fortress & that has NOT happened. Luke is still dead, folks. I don't know why they can't be content with his true "ists" or bests, etc. He's the most famous anti-hero, the best ratings for a wedding, a lovers on the run storyline that will forever keep its place in history, a perm like no other, a legendary paycheck with 10 weeks off every summer, etc. I give him his due. But he is not the most important person in all of soapdom. Fortunately Agnes Nixon was well rewarded by her industry! Not all of her industry because there's the Brian Frons's & Anne Sweeney's & Megan McTavish'es of this world who had no better sense than to be opposing Ms. Nixon. ABC did her very wrong by pushing her away & then when the show got into trouble, bringing her back in & rinse & repeat.

It's certainly true that Agnes saved the show from what was close to being early cancelation! I thought everyone acknowledged that. That really has nothing to do with what happened later on with Pete which was a very nice golden period. He doesn't take away from her. No one can take away from her. Without her intervention at that time there wouldn't have been a show by the time Pete Lemay caught the attention of Honchos at P&G. James Lipton had done the show no favors, and, of course, he never really was much of a writer. Anyway, the Matthews family, nothing like having your core family nearly decimated or having a brand spanking new family 'rode into town ... The one thing I had hoped to read in Nixon's excellent autobiography was her discussing the parallels between Erica & Mona with Rachel & Ada, but she didn't mention it. The show got the benefit of her using the AMC bible, though, which is what counts.

Steph is great! Stephanie Sloane, and she was the Editor in charge of DOOL, as well as being Editor-in-Chief, or whatever that title is actually, she & Corday go way back. I'm not at all surprised that you were mentioned. Naturally. When I lived in Brooklyn I was at the Digest offices often. Good times with good people!

Pete Lemay's book about being HW at AW Oh, you're very welcome! Glad you enjoyed. I think it's a great interview, too. And, of course, it's early on, which is always neat to find. Pete Lemay is one of my heroes! If you haven't read his book, it's great! Eight Years In Another World

Gentleman Jack Monday Night! On Monday, the second season of HBO’s historical drama Gentleman Jack premieres. Set in Yorkshire, England, in 1834, a month after they married, Ann Walker remains in York under the care of her doctor while Anne Lister renovates her home Shibden Hall in preparation for her wife to move in. Gentleman Jack: Monday, 10pm on HBO.

I met Larry Lau in unusual relaxed circumstances around June 20th either 1999, 2000, or 2001. (I'm not sure if it was the year AW was cancelled or the first year after or the second year after. We got together as fans, inviting other fans & actors, at Blondie's Sports Bar in Manhattan on those occasions & it was one of them.) I happened to be the person who greeted Lau & his gf & took them back to the "Hospitality Room". He was in a black t-shirt, black skinny leg jeans, black boots, black belt & his weight was down & he looked better than I'd ever seen him, meaning on AMC then later on AW. I remember knowing he'd been through something. I thought that it was getting cleaned up but I didn't know & I wasn't gonna know. He was just in such a great frame of mind, very chatty, outgoing, really happy or doing a great job of seeming to be. He was kind & solicitous to his gf who was nice looking and friendly, but he wasn't overly so, either. I was truly impressed with what a fine human being he seemed to be at that point in his life. Tho't you might enjoy hearing this little slice. That is all. I will leave you be.

Gentleman Jack update: the premiere on April 25th is of the season two preview. Nothing new tonight. Actual start date still unknown.

I'm an example. I never watched even a scene much less an episode but it doesn't keep me from knowing of the existence of Timmy played by Josh Ryan Evans (RIP) and Tabitha played by Juliet Mills. If only I could harness this useless information to a good use! 😵

Huh! Now I don't know where I knew you from but it was somewhere we both were. Prodigy, AOL, Delphi? Did you go to any of their soap boards? Not that this matters! Just curious.

I come bearing a new nickname for our Spencer: Teflon with good manners! If you like it, I mean. This is what I thought as I watched Laura give him a good talking to. Yeah, he's just waiting for her to get finished.

Well, what was Alan Harris doing when last we saw him? I mean if roosters are coming home to roost ... 🤔

Agnes was the HW who crafted that triangle & they were there when he got there & after he'd been there a while, was when GR & JC were fired, so, yes, they were in the pkg. he inherited. As far as whether he rescued the show or not, 1) everyone says it & no one disputes it, but 2) we go to the numbers. Harding "Pete" Lemay at ANOTHER WORLD 1971-79 1971-72 AW ranked 6th of 17 1972-73 AW ranked 3rd of 17 1973-74 AW ranked 2nd of 16 1974-75 AW ranked 2nd of 14 1975-76 AW ranked 2nd of 14 1976-77 AW ranked 2nd of 15 1977-78 AW ranked 2nd of 14 1978-79 AW ranked 8th of 14 1979-80 AW ranked 8th of 13 AW went to 60 min. Jan. 6, 1975 I don't have the dates to hand right now but there were some weeks when AW wasn't just backing ATWT up (2nd, to 1st) but AW tied with ATWT for 1st place those couple of times. By & large they were #2 while ATWT was #1 & P&G was pleased as punch. NBC was happy, too, because high up in the rankings was something they were chasing. At the outset, that was something he hoped to do, be able to write longer scenes. Good point, good analysis, just because it seems to make sense to double everything doesn't mean that would really be called for.

I saw not 2 weeks ago where it has come out that Susan Sullivan was definitely let go to come up with money to hire someone they pinned great hopes on & then they killed her off in that atrocious way, to boot. I'm thinking there was something of a personal reason for the cut-back to Wyman. Sorry, I just don't remember. Maybe it was just being sick. 🤪

I'm reading an article about bipolar & anger _ It sez that anger has taken a back seat to mania & depression _ Sure that makes sense. There are more of them. Rage can last for days on end _ very hard to diagnose because you rarely see the doctor when you're feeling so irritable all the time & escalating into rage _ It points out that occasional flashes of temper are not bipolar; that's just being angry. Rapid mood changes can go from irritability to euphoria to depression & then start over where it takes only 25 min. to take the tour one time. I typed this up & am posting it because I think this is the kind of bipolar that Sonny has. He needs to stay on his meds & he needs to talk to someone. At least that's what I would tell him if I were his friend.

Thank you very much, Jason. I remember you from as far back as RATS & RATSm & Alt.Days. Maybe even Prodigy. Here's to better days! 😃 So far, so good! This reads just like I remember it! It's reassuring. And, also, so well done!

Thanks for the explanation. So sum total, when she left, was she alone? Was poor Li'l Dickie dead? Who was David with? Eric had just been unfairly accused? Who was reponsible for the baby's accident? I find myself very confused.

Did anyone here watch Season 1 of Gentleman Jack 👏when it came out back in 2019? I did. And, I loved it. And, I've been anxiously awaiting the Season 2 premiere! I just checked the IMDb page to see if there was any news when it's going to start. Previously the information only said that it would begin in April. Today it says Next episode April 24, 2022! I'm so excited! If you don't know what it's about, I can help with that. First of all, it's based on a real woman's life. Literally the beginning source material was volumes & volumes of diaries that Miss Anne Lister wrote a code for them & wrote copious amounts in her diaries. If I've understood correctly the code was based half on Physics & half on Greek. She had personal power & wealth that had not been appropriated by her brother or by any man that made it his business to interfere with her. So, she can own land & run the estate. She dresses in men's clothing, which are tailored to her by a tailor. She rides horses, drives carriages and has love affairs with many women. One at a time. I love the theme song & it generally has good music throughout. It's England, but not a city. And, I think, but don't quote me, it is the 1800s. Its creator is Sally Wainwright who is famous for a body of work including Last Tango in Halifax and Happy Valley.

When I lived in Brooklyn, and it was still named The Museum of TV, etc. I watched a few episodes from the first week of AW.

Wasn't there some to-do about GH offering a lot of money to lure DA away? Maybe there were hard feelings @ the outcome.

Yes, I thought it was credible. I did believe it. I'm sure they cold have spent more time in therapy. But, they did it. No one tried to rewrite it. And, it seemed like therapy, like whoever was the doc believed her, with no one trying to undermine her, but there was something in the way they shot it that was creepy. We saw that she was distraught. We saw him, sitting in his room by himself looking morose. I didn't know at the time if we were supposed to feel sorry for him. I'm sorry I don't remember a lot and I was a kid. Probably a naive kid. Adding: And, apparently I don't remember the whole story.

Love when she comes. She sounded so much like she was outta there, no looking back, in the exit interviews she gave. Also she talked so about her & DH doing each other's hair. I guess she is serious about who does her hair. Without Dee, she let it go white. And, boy, does it ever look good! 👏

It was such a dark, dark story. And, they wrote him so eccentric as to be weird, off, something off kilter about him. He never smiled. I think they played him as ethnic and that otherness was to his disadvantage. I never had any doubt that she had been raped. I mean, this was DOOL. You couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting a rape victim. NBC pushed violent stories claiming that it garnered ratings. I always wondered if they had any idea what they were talking about. But, she was so full of doubt, dread, uncertainty. I was glad they did the scenes they did in the therapist's office, thinking someone in the audience might get help if they needed it.

Those were the days! I wonder when the last solo cover was. Maybe been decades? 🤔

No doubt that they all had good writing. That's a given. But, I remember reading about Denise Alexander's popularity, Schemering said she was probably the most consistently popular romantic heroine of the soaps. And, I always thought what a remarkable compliment that was. Since she'd been working since she was a child, she had lots of credits & tons of experience on the job. I always found her very appealing & liked all of her characters - Susan, Leslie, Mary/Marisa.